Rumors have circulated about UGO purchasing the 1UP network for a few weeks now, but moments ago it all became official. As of today, Ziff Davis has completed the sale of 1UP.com, MyCheats.com, GameVideos.com, and GameTab.com to UGO Entertainment and their parent company, the Hearst Corporation.
"Since we started UGO 11 years ago, we have served the gamer community and built a world-class online publishing platform," said J Moses, CEO of UGO Entertainment. "The acquisition of 1UP, with its authentic voice, tenured editorial personalities and bustling user community, allows us to expand our base of quality content and represents a major step forward in UGO's mission to become the leader in the games space."
UGO getting 1UP isn’t too shocking. Even though they were only "rumors," we pretty much knew it was going to happen last month. What many have been waiting for is the fate of EGM. I’m sorry to say, but this upcoming issue will be EGM’s last. One issue before the 20th anniversary of gaming’s most celebrated magazine…
Gamasutra got their hands on an internal email from Ziff Davis CEO Jason Young to the Ziff employees (below). In it, he writes: “With this transaction happening, we have also made the decision to discontinue publication of EGM. The January 2009 issue will be the final issue of the publication. With demand for print continuing to decline amongst both advertisers and readers and the content being produced by 1UP no longer available for use in the publication, it simply did not make sense for us to move forward with this business any longer.”
Also learned from Jason’s email: FileFront will stay with Ziff as part of the PCMag Digital Network, and "many" of 1UP’s employees will stay on as employees under UGO. I have no doubt many 1UP (and EGM) staffers will lose their jobs in this buy-out, and to them I extend my sympathy, and well-wishes for finding new work.
It’s really a shame EGM is going to go out on such a low note, though. Sure would have been nice to have gotten one extra final issue to say goodbye and celebrate 20 years. Hell, is it too late to change the January cover to something Madden related?
Here's the full text of Jason Young's email:
"Team:
We are announcing today the sale of our 1UP digital business to UGO Entertainment, a dvision of Hearst Corporation.
Over the course of the last 4 years we have built the 1UP sites into a top tier gaming digital destination. While our growth has been sharp, it has become apparent that more scale is necessary to effectively compete in this market segment.
We made the decision that the best path to putting our award winning 1UP brand and content in a more competitive position was to combine it with the operations of another publisher. We received much interest from other parties.
After a comprehensive process, this morning we completed a deal with Hearst Interactive, the owner and operator of UGO Entertainment. 1UP.com, MyCheats.com, Gamevideos.com, and Gametab.com will now all be part of the UGO Entertainment business. Many of our employees will travel with this business and become part of the UGO team.
With this transaction happening, we have also made the decision to discontinue publication of EGM. The January 2009 issue will be the final issue of the publication. With demand for print continuing to decline amongst both advertisers and readers and the content being produced by 1UP no longer available for use in the publication, it simply did not make sense for us to move forward with this business any longer.
We will continue to operate the Filefront business as a part of the PCMag Digital Network. In the coming months we will determine the best ways to leverage the scale and functionality of this digital property to expand our business position.
The Ziff Davis position in the gaming market has been significant and important to our company and the market itself. While many of our assets in the PCMag Digital Network (including Filefront now) will continue to cover this market, it's important that we celebrate all that we have achieved over the last 25 years.
Our leadership in print for decades with titles like Computer Gaming World and EGM which in turn translated into the build out of one of the leading digital gaming media assets in 1UP are prime examples of the skill, passion, and expertise of our teams.and what they achieved.
It's incredible to compare the 1UP.com of today versus that of 12 months ago. I want to thank everybody in our Game Group for their important contributions over the years.
For Ziff Davis Media, our attention and focus now shifts squarely to the PC Mag Digital Network. The proceeds from this transaction will be used to pay down debt. One of the primary objectives of our business plan is ensuring that we have plenty of room to service our debt obligations into the future, and manage for growth in what will be a challenging year in the advertising market.
While the market will be tough, we are confident our position is well aligned to where the demand is most active. We move forward as a 100% digital business with tenured brand position, and powerful capabilities to drive results for our customers. I look forward to sharing more updates in the coming weeks.
JY."
UPDATE: Will we get one awesome farewell/20th anniversary issue of EGM after all? On his first post-Ziff blog entry, former EGM Editor-in-Chief James Mielke writes, "Did you know that --despite all the rumors that EGM would be closing-- actually completed one, last, beautiful, glorious issue of EGM? Indeed. You will see it very soon. It will be for everyone." Cross your fingers, EGM fans.
Leave a Reply